On Observing Etiquette and Custom —— A Case Study of the Essence of the Funeral and Burial in the Six Dynasties〔* 〕

Wang Weiping

(Culture and Promulgate College Guangxi Finance and Economics Institute，Nanning Guangxi530003)

Ⅰ.Observing etiquette and custom

Turbulent times，races for power，plague，natural disasters，commonly-seen death and“being difficult to live and easy to die”are the real experience of life and time for all people of the Six Dynasties.In face of frequent death incidents，how to deal with death，namely funeral，is an important thing to be considered for people of the Six Dynasties，who figure out a path suitable to etiquette and custom in the process of dealing with funerals.

1.Following the Confucian etiquette

Chinese people attach great importance to death，and consider funerals as extremely big events.A series of rites and rules have been made from death to funeral and sacrifice，which are collectively known as obsequies，the most important part of the five basic etiquettes in ancient China.In the five etiquettes，an obsequy is the most complex one next to auspicious ceremony，and a well-preserved one in history.

Due to the thought of paying supreme tribute to Confucianism since the Han Dynasty，Chinese people tend to follow the etiquettes recorded in Zhou li，Yili and Liji when dealing with funerals.Despite that Confucianism loses its status in the Six Dynasties，people still stick to the traditional etiquettes advocated by Confucianism when dealing with death in that the basic social structure is still clan society where people abide by Confucianism and deem it as the common value.Whenever there are disputes about the appropriateness of the funeral or mourning，the rules in Zhou li，Yili and Liji are used as the basis of judgement by learned men.

Despite that the rite of three-year mourning is abolished in the Six Dynasties，literati and officialdom who grow up in the atmosphere of feudal ethical code still believe that it should not be abandoned.Emperor Wu of Han performs the three-year mourning for Emperor Wen of Han，which wins the heart of Yang Hu，the minister born of a reputable family in the Han and Wei Dynasties.Yang Hu tells Fu Xuan that he thinks it is necessary and loyal to obey the rules stipulated in the classics and that the rite of three0yeay mourning should not be abandoned.However，Fu Xuan does not approve with him.His idea is criticized by Xi Zaochi，a learned and noble man of Jinchu.Sun Sheng，who is born of official family，also thinks that it is inappropriate to abolish the rite.Therefore，the majority of literati and officialdom approve the rite of three-year mourning.The following dynasties after the Jin Dynasty，including Song，Qi，Liang，Chen and Sui，also abide by the practice of the Jin Dynasty.

Actually，when it comes to observing the traditional rites of Confucianism，the Northern Dynasties(386-581，collectively refers to the Northern Wei Dynasty，the Northern Qi Dynasty，the Northern Zhou Dynasty)are stricter than the Southern Dynasties(420-589)，namely，the Song Dynasty，the Qi Dynasty，the Liang Dynasty and the Chen Dynasty.Cheng Yan Zhuan in Chapter 79 of Wei Shu records that Empress Dowager Wen Ming demises，Emperor Wu of Southern Qi sends Pei Shaoming and Xie Jun to express their condolence who want to perform the rite in court dress.However，the host does not approve，and says that according to traditional ethic codes，they are not allowed to show up in the court in red.Pei Shaoming and others say that it is their custom that cannot be changed.The two sides stick to their own opinions.Then a learned scholar，Cheng Yan is sent by the emperor to convince the envoys of the Southern Qi Dynasty.Cheng Yan says that in the sad occasion of Empress Dowager Wen Ming’s demise，the envoys should follow the rite of the Wei Dynasty and perform it in mourning dress.Finally，Pei Shaoming and others are convinced by him and have no choice but conform to the rite of the Wei Dynasty.They borrow the mourning dress from the host and finish the mourning.

2.Following the custom of the Han and the Wei Dynasties

As Pei Shaoming says to Cheng Yan when they debate on the mourning etiquettes，“The etiquettes of the three dynasties vary，and how do you know which part of them remains now.”Confucius also acknowledges that the etiquettes of ancient three dynasties can hardly be preserved.The later generations all claim that their practice is in line with that of the three dynasties.But even in the three dynasties，the practice varies.Therefore，there is no unified law.However，the Han and Wei Dynasties are not as ancient as the three dynasties，and besides，there are documents and records as reference，the etiquettes of the Six Dynasties funerals，therefore，can refer to the customs of the Han and Wei Dynasties as well.Etiquettes in the North and South Dynasties mostly follow the previous dynasties after the Jin Dynasty.Despite that in the process of making laws according to previous ones，the etiquettes of present dynasty tend to be changed with times;they do not vary much from the customs of the Han and Wei Dynasties.As for the six North dynasties confronted to the South Dynasties，the principle of making etiquette law is that“strictly conforming to old practice and adopting the customs of the Han and Wei Dynasties.”

Ⅱ.Being flexible according to the situation

1.Drawing up new etiquette and custom

There is a state of chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty.In order to maintain the order of court，King Wu of Wei kingdom orders Privy Counselor Wang Can and Minister Wei Yi to draw up court etiquettes.Funeral rituals，as one of the five ceremonies，are also reformed and earnestly practised.

There is little argument or reform concerning the funeral rituals of the six dynasties recorded from Chapter 79 to Chapter 150 of Tong Dian written by Du You of the Tang Dynasty，and the practice of the Jin Dynasty is followed.Judging from the story of Zhi Yu’s explanation and discussion of the mourning etiquette of the emperor to Du Yu recorded in the Chapter 51 of Jin Shu，Zhi Yu thinks that the basic concept of funeral and mourning etiquette should be flexible according to the situation.Therefore，it can be deduced that when discussing the new etiquette and custom，Zhi Yu also believes that they should be“flexible according to the situation”.

2.Two abandoning and two following

It is common to hold funeral and mourning ceremony;however，Confucianism，with the representative of Confucius，bestows it with filial piety and considers it the same as“supporting the elderly”.When he answers the questions raised by Yi Zi and Fan Chi，Confucius says that“etiquette is necessary for both the alive and the dead”，which is referred to as“filial piety”.Later，Mencius and Xuncius explicate this concept.Mencius says in Li Lou that“it is not big deal to support the elderly，but prac-tice mourning etiquettes”.Xuncius pays attention to the funeral and mourning ceremony in Li Lun，whose opinion is that the matter of life and death should be carefully dealt with.Despite that it is regarded as important in the eyes of Confucianism，the detailed practice needs not to be extravagant，but being flexible according to the economic conditions of the family.However，in the Han Dynasty which advocates“ruling the world with filial piety”，Confucianism maintains that the practice should be extravagant，which is a prevalent idea in the society.It seems that less money spent indicates less filial piety.Apparently，rich families can afford it;however，for poor families，large sum of money spent seriously affects their life.Despite that many brave men，such as Yang Wangsun，Zhang Huan，Deng Yu，Ji Zun，Wang Tang，Fan Hong，Zheng Xuan，Zhao Zi，Ma Rong and Fan Ran，voice their opinion of supporting economic funeral，and even Emperor Guangwu gives the order of economic funeral，the tendency of elaborate funeral still cannot be refrained.In the Six Dynasties，Cao Cao and his sons，Xu Huang，Sima Lang，Pei Qian and other officials and celebrities，advocate economic funeral，but they fail to restrict the social tendency of elaborate funeral since the Qin and Han Dynasties，which is still the social mainstream.After the northern minority regime rules China，the Han nationalization policy is implemented in order to consolidate regime.Meanwhile，people in power tend to advocate elaborate funeral and give financial support so as to win over the heart of the Han people stranded in northern China.Therefore，besides the original funeral customs，elaborate funeral is still popular in the Northern Dynasties.

People of the Six Dynasties find it difficult to choose economic funeral or elaborate funeral.Elaborate funeral can either be filial piety or not.It can be filial piety because of the social tendency;it can be not filial piety because the abundant burial objects may be stolen by robbers，and in that case，the coffin and body will be exposed and relatives of the dead hardly stand the inner suffering.Despite that Cao Cao gives order of prohibiting elaborate funeral and setting up monuments，the folk trend of elaborate funeral and setting up monuments cannot be completely eradicated.

3.Emphasis on being content instead of following etiquette

People of ancient times think that the etiquette comes from people’s inner mind.Therefore，the formulation of etiquette is based on human nature and mind.Mencius thinks that etiquette should be applied in dealing with matter of life and death.“Happiness is for supporting the elderly;sadness is for attending a burial ceremony;respect is for sacrifice.”The perfect etiquette is the combination of mood and rite.Lack of sadness and too many rites can be referred to as imperfect etiquette;lack of rites and too much sadness can be referred to as good etiquette.However，in actual funeral and mourning，few can pay attention to both rites and mood.Take the stories of Wang Rong and He Qiao，two dutiful sons，recorded in Shi Shuo Xin Yu and De Xing Di Yi as an example.Liu Zhongxiong thinks that，although He Qiao cries hard during the time of mourning，it is not sincere but an action according to etiquette.Therefore，it is not worth commending.As for Wang Rong，although he“neglects social rules and eat meat，drink wine and watches a game of chess sometimes”，his sadness is true，thus conforming to the standard put forward by Confucianism.Wang Rong is commended by Liu Zhongxiong and Emperor Wu of Han.Take another story recorded in Ren Dan as an example.During the mourning period of Ruan Ji’s mother，he eats meat and drinks wine.When Pei Kai comes to pay condolence，Ruan Ji does not cry，but instead，he is drunk，sitting on the bed with his hair dishevelled.When his mother is buried，Ruan Ji cooks a hog and drinks a lot of wine.However，the moment he parts forever with his mother，Ruan Ji wails hard and spitting blood violently，after which Ruan Ji falls into depression for quite a long time.People who stick to law and discipline rite criticize his eating meat and drinking wine during the mourning period of his mother，referring to him as“man who corrupts public morals”.However，King Wen of the Jin Dynasty does not think that Ruan Ji has misbehaved，and instead，he excuses for him in The Book of Rites.Pei Kai also understands Ruan Ji’s behavior，and he says that“Ruan Ji is an aloof figure so that he is not refined by rites;and we are common people constrained by rites.”Therefore，during the mourning period，observing rites does not necessarily means feeling grief，while those who feel grief tend not to be constrained by rites.Hence，despite that people observe rites in the funeral and mourning in the Six Dynasties，people pay more attention to showing grief instead of observing rites strictly，which can not only be witnessed in the funeral and mourning of parents，but also in that of the colleagues，friends，children and siblings.Showing grief is their attitude towards the departed.

Notes:

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